Islanders get gift of 'own goal' in 4-3 win over Canadiens

Islanders Doug Weight (l.) and Sean Bergenheim embrace after a goal during the third period. (Hughes/AP)

MONTREAL - Ryan O'Byrne blamed himself for costing the Canadiens a point. He didn't blame the Montreal fans for booing him.

O'Byrne allowed the tying goal when he put the puck in his own net on a delayed penalty, and Bill Guerin scored the shootout clincher for the Islanders in a 4-3 victory over Montreal on Monday night.

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Guerin was credited with the goal on O'Byrne's gaffe, which made it 3-all at 15:13 of the third period.

After the game, a disconsolate O'Byrne said he didn't realize a penalty was being called on Sean Bergenheim. So when Doug Weight pressured him on the forecheck, O'Byrne figured he would send the puck back to goalie Carey Price.

But Price was off for an extra attacker, so he wasn't there to stop it and the puck slid slowly into the net. Parts of the Bell Centre sellout crowd of 21,273 booed for a long time after the goal. Before overtime, fans chanted O'Byrne's name in derision as the Canadiens filed off the bench toward the dressing room.

"I feel bad. I apologized to everyone in the room," said O'Byrne, who didn't see the ice for the rest of the game. "The fans are eager for victories and they had a right to react the way they did."

Everyone on the Canadiens was quick to come to O'Byrne's defense, especially Gorges, who shot a nasty look toward the crowd after the game.

"I know it's tough because they expect a lot and we expect a lot out of ourselves as well," Gorges said. "I know how it feels. I've put the puck into my net before. It's never intentional. It's a bad break, and nobody feels more sick to his stomach about it than Ryan does.

"I just thought to chant his name was tough because I know how he feels and he'd give anything to take it back."

Bergenheim went straight to the penalty box after the goal, but the Canadiens couldn't covert on that power play, or another one at 18:34 of the third that stretched into overtime.

Montreal's top-ranked power play from the past two seasons finished the night 1-for-7 and is 3-for-38 in the last eight games.

Gorges got his goal on a rare power-play shift, and Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said more personnel changes can be expected in an effort to turn it around.

"We're going to try a lot more experiments because since the beginning of the season we've been leaving the same 10 players who are supposed to make the power play work, but it's not working," Carbonneau said. "If we have to put the fourth line on the ice to change things up, that's where we're at right now."

"It's an unfortunate bounce for Price. He had a pretty good game going," MacDonald said. "We were going short-handed, too, so it would have been tough for us to even get that first point. But strange things happen in 60 minutes, and we kept putting pressure on them to force (O'Byrne) to throw it back."